Conventional video search systems (e.g., video search engines, video hosting services, etc.) allow a user to search for videos responsive to a search query based on textual metadata associated with each video (e.g., titles, tags, descriptions, etc.). For example, a user can begin by inputting a search query, such as the letters “ca” in the query “cat vacuum video.” In this example, the user can be provided with a list of automatically completed queries, such as “cat vacuum,” “cat vacuum video,” and “cat saves boy from dog.” In response to selecting one of the completed queries, the video search system returns a list of links to videos with the search terms contained in their metadata, such as a video entitled “cat plays with vacuum cleaner.” The user of the video search system can then select one of the videos in the list to watch.
The user, however, may have to continuously modify the search query and resubmit the modified search query to the video search system to obtain different search results. This can be a time consuming and frustrating procedure for the user, especially when the user may be unaware of the search terms that may lead to the video content that the user is looking for.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide new mechanisms for searching for video content.